


Princess' Butler

by Sophisticated_Dude



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Rune Pockets iz a Thing?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:26:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophisticated_Dude/pseuds/Sophisticated_Dude
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frey sat alone. She was alone more and more these days, socializing only for the Selphia's sake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Princess' Butler

Frey was trying to work, but she was distracted again, her mind wandered to Venti. She ached inside from the lose, even after a couple of years those scars remained, but she still smiled at the wonderful memories made in the short time they knew each other.

"Frey, are you hungry?" Frey sighed and laid on the desk. She didn't want to talk, "I made you something."

"Clorica...it's sweet of you...but I don't feel like eating." Frey mumbled.

"Frey..." Frey bolted upright as Clorica's hand slid over her stomach. She would never let anyone know she liked girls, she would just oh and awe at the shirtless men like a good little straight girl _avoid_ questions. Only Venti knew about her, she was so kind and motherly the whole time Frey cried one night, she didn't mind the human wetting her feathers with tears. She had started with a question.

_"So, Venti, Doug and Dylas act like they like each other, but they make it seem like a bad thing..." Frey spoke quietly and Venti sighed patiently._

_"You wouldn't ask if it didn't matter...do you like one of them?" Venti asked, trying a teasing voice. Frey didn't bow her head shamefully, instead she smiled sadly and shook her head, "I feel bad for you, Frey, I'd tell people to lay off, but the residents of Selphia_ are _homophobic, you'd be hard pressed to find someone willing to risk even hinting at their feelings on the matter, unless they would be the ones proudly cursing you in my name...I guess in a way, they're swearing by the next 'Ventuswill', and not specifically me...the doctors, chefs, storekeepers, butlers, innkeepers, and Forte and her boys seem alright with it, though that's not a lot of people, you've expanded the city in a very short while."_

_"Venti..." Frey stared down at the ground, shaken, "I...I told Clorica yesterday...that I loved her, and she..."_

_"Friend zoned you, I saw...you'll need to be specific next time by what 'love' you're referring to...maybe she's just being careful."_

_"Venti, what if I never find love?"_

Frey was acutely aware of Clorica lightly pressing again Frey's stomach, "You're empty, Frey."

"I'm not hungry." Frey sighed, turning back to her work, but found it hard to do when a sweet smelling slice of pie arrived on her desk. Clorica must have been caring it in her Rune Pocket the whole time.

"Frey, please?" Clorica begged.

"No, I'm fine! Thanks but-"

"Do I cook badly?"

"No, you know you're an amazing chef, now please, leave me in peace."

"But...your tummy's empty, we can't let that sit!" Frey rested her head in her hand. This woman would be the death of her. Death by cute sweetness, if she didn't drown in pie first.

"I'll make it."

"Frey..." Clorica let out a deep sigh, "people have stared themselves before--to death! I...don't want to see that...hey, I'll feed you!" Clorica sliced into the buttery and flaky crust with the fork she brought for Frey, and offered it to Frey, who blushed and turned away.

"N-no...Clorica, I don't need force feeding, I'll eat it later."

"Maybe with a cup of relax tea?"

"You're really pushing it, Clorica."

"You sure I can't give it to you now? Say 'ah'-"

"No, for the last time." Frey pulled back again and Clorica frowned.

"Xiao doesn't mind, though."

"That's because Xiao isn't-" Frey stopped herself and sighed.

"Isn't...what's wrong, Frey?"

"She isn't like me."

"Oh...I see...I never did say...I didn't want to, but my sister...she was like you, and...and then I left...they buried her somewhere that wasn't the family farm, and then I left." Clorica took a deep breath and felt a tear slide down her face, "Frey, we can talk about this, please!"

"Your sister...?" Frey swallowed as she stared at the ground, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"Was a lesbian, so I ran from Norad and found things were pretty much the same here, though a few townspeople seem sympathetic to us-"

"Huh?"

"Nothing...now eat." Clorica backed away from Frey and turned to leave.

"Clorica?"

"Yes, Frey?"

"I'm...sorry about...reminding you of your sister like this...I'm being careful, though."

"I hope so...I'll be back in a little while with some tea for you. Um, I mean, unless-"

"That would be lovely...thank you."

"You're very welcome, Frey."

 

Frey thought about what all Clorica said for a little while and realized she not only neglected her hunger, but her sleepiness, too. Maybe that had a hand in making her so tired? She stood up and realized she had been in pajamas since morning, which worked for her. She slid into bed and closed her eyes. For all of two minutes.

"Hello, Frey-uh...Frey, are you feeling well? You weren't in bed before..." she noticed Clorica standing in her sky blue nightgown as well.

Frey fidgeted with the bow on her shoulder and sat up, "I was just...up an indecently long time, so-"

"You didn't stay up all night?!" Clorica's eyes widened and she grabbed the apple pie and marched over to Frey, "Move over--now!"

Frey did as she was ordered and Clorica sat slipped under the covers as well, "Clorica, you don't have-" Clorica used the fork to offer the same piece of pie she cut from the main slice earlier and poked the tines against Frey's lips.

"I'm going to make sure you take proper care of yourself from now on, okay? Fasting is all good and fine, but you shouldn't work on an empty stomach, and certainly not neglect yourself by staying up all night, either! I know it's a little humiliating, but I...I don't want to find you like this again, okay?" Frey nodded and tried not to pay attention to Clorica's tears, it'd just upset the butler.

After Frey's second bite, Clorica offered the princess her tea, then readied some more pie, with an "ah" to bring the princess' attention to the food, though Frey seemed thirty, so she lowered the fork until Frey was done. Frey accepted the feeding far more readily this time, and Clorica smiled as the princess enjoyed the dessert.

"Frey, if you'd like to feed yourself...I'll hold your drink or something."

"Um, okay."

"Unless you like it?"

"Ah." Frey folded her hands and kept her eyes half open, watching Clorica cut her next slice.

"You're so cute, Frey." Clorica remarked, resting against Frey while the princess ate.

Frey took a long sip of tea turned to Clorica, "Not cute like you, though."

"It seems no one's cuter than my mama, though!" the pair turned to find Xiao Pai on the path leading out to the farm, "Mama was sneezing and said it seemed someone was talking about her, so I said, 'I'll go find who's talking about you and ask them to stop, yes?', then I saw the lights here were on...it seems you were more talking about what she is than her, but she seems to be the definition of cuteness, yes?"

"Xiao...we only just started talking about that!" Frey shook her head, "Besides, that's not true, when I talk about you, I don't hear about you sneezing!"

"It seems I'm wired so everything that happens as consequences for someone else becomes me breaking dishes, but someone has to be talking about how cute my mama is, right?"

"Oh, Xiao, what are you doing here?" Lin Fa inquired, smiling, "I'm so sorry, but 'it seems' my daughter took an old wives' tale to heart, isn't that too cute?"

"Mama! It seems you will always be teasing me about my strange speaking, yes? But even that is cute!"

"Oh, Xiao, keep your voice down," Lin Fa giggled and winked at the girls, "have fun, you two!"

 Clorica and Frey waved as their visitors left them, and then Clorica resumed feeding Frey, until the princess leaned back, finished.

"Frey, you must still be hungry."

"Sorry, but I'm full, and tired."

"Hm..." Clorica whimpered and put away the food and laid down, wrapped her arms around Frey.

"Clorica...I'll sleep, okay? You don't need to stay here."

"I want to believe that, but...I believe you could use the company."

"But...it's making me..."

"Uncomfortable?"

"No...not exactly...more like...too comfortable...but uncomfortable at the same time."

"Huh?"

"I love you, Clorica...you're very pretty, and I want to...be more than just a friend, more than even a best friend..."

"Frey?"

"I've felt like that since that day I told you...you didn't seem bothered, but I later learned that Selphia...isn't the kind of place for me to be...openly affectionate to another girl."

"I didn't dare hope you meant it that way..."

"I was advised that you may have just been being cautious...but you weren't?"

"I'd hoped you'd add more to it, but you seemed...disappointed in my enthusiasm."

"Clori..." Frey sighed, then turned away, "If I may call you that."

"Ha, we are lovers, now, then, so we will need nicknames."

"But...we can't be...open, can we?"

"Why not? You've done a great job so far, isn't that all that matters?"

"It is, but-"

"No buts...I've remained a secret for too long, I won't allow _us_ to be like that, what I've found in you...is a beautiful future." Clorica coughed back a sob, but it was caught in her throat and only made the inside of her throat hurt, which served to bring more tears to her eyes.

"Clori-"

"F-Frey...can I have a nickname for you?"

"How about Lil' Frey?" Frey suggested softly, stroking the lavender hair of her lover. Clorica nodded and let Frey lay them down. Frey wrapped her arms around Clorica and pulled her deeply into her embrace.

"Lil' Frey...I could have saved her, I just know...if I just thought about how cruelly her heart was hidden from public, buried in my family's lies, I would have realized that someone needed to speak out against it!" Clorica shook grief-ridden tears into Frey's bosom as the princess stroked her back, "I just stood there...I hid while she wasted away, and then they buried her in shame!"

"Clori, you couldn't have understood it well, I still don't understand it...I'd be afraid, too, if my family was suddenly shaken up like that."

"It's not fair, I got a chance for love...she deserved one, too!"

"Clori...you're right, but then she'd be crying, thinking she's at fault for what happened."

"I never thought of it like that."

"I don't blame you, it's hard to imagine that life could be so different from the way it is...I'm sure she's in a better place, now, though. She's probably smiling at you now, glad you finally have someone to be open with about this."

"Yeah...I just wish I could hear her voice, once more, to tell me...tell me I couldn't have saved her."

"Clori...things happen strangely sometimes, like how Lin Fa's mistakes always put her where she wants to be, even when she didn't know what that was...so maybe...me trying to distract myself from...Venti, maybe it's all so similar because that's the best way to let you know that you don't have to beat yourself up for it anymore."

"I don't know...maybe." Clorica whispered, looking up at Frey.

"Try to get some rest, Clori, okay?" Frey kissed Clorica's forehead, "I love you, Clori."

"I love you, too, Lil' Frey...good night."

"Good night, Clori."

**Author's Note:**

> This is building slowly, but surely!  
> As always, leave your thoughts and prompts here.


End file.
